


my child, where did you go?

by hobbitheichou (midnightstarlight)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-31
Updated: 2015-01-31
Packaged: 2018-03-09 20:44:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3263792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midnightstarlight/pseuds/hobbitheichou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Petra did not write a letter to her father? What if she was there, with him, before the 57th Expedition?</p>
            </blockquote>





	my child, where did you go?

**Author's Note:**

> Petra and Papa Ral featuring the asshat Levi Ackerman! :)

"When are you going to marry?"

Heasks her this as they watch the fire crackle in the hearth. She is curled up beside him, her head resting on his shoulder and her hands wrapped around a mug of hot chocolate.

"I don’t know, dad. I honestly don’t." She doesn’t look at him; she’s not keen on talking about marriage. He knows that. But he just has to ask her now for later might be too late.

"You should though."

She sits up and smiles at him, “There’s a time for everything, dad. And right now, I want to dedicate myself to the Survey Corps, to keeping you safe.”

He takes her hand and squeezes, “I just want you to have a family.”

"I have a family. I have you."

"I won’t be here forever." He says because he’s afraid that he doesn’t have much time left.

She feels a pang of sadness and a sudden sense of mortality but she won’t show it. She needs to be strong for him, after all the hurt and the worry she’s put him through. She’s a soldier, handpicked by Humanity’s Strongest to be in his squad. So she pinches his arm playfully and says, “Don’t say something like that! I might even die before you.”

"No. I forbid it," he says and kisses the crown of her head. "You have your whole life ahead of you, Petra. I just wish your mother had been here to see you grow into such a wonderful and talented young lady. She would have been very proud of you."

It’s been so long since they talked about her mother. And oh, how she misses her. She misses her warm hugs, her stories, her  _everything_.

“Do you really think so, dad?”

He nods and wraps her in his arms.

*

She gets ready to leave the next morning and prepares breakfast for the two of them.

He doesn’t like it when she goes beyond the walls, inside the enemy lines where she might die. But it’s her duty, and it’s something equally important to her as her family.

They eat in silence. He helps her with the dishes and together they wait for the carriage that would take her away.

She hugs him and kisses him goodbye, “Don’t worry about me, dad. You know that I’ll always come back to you.”

"I know. Be safe," he hands her her belongings and prays to God that he keeps her safe, keep the only one important to him away from harm.

Petra pokes her head out of the carriage, smiles as the wind pushes her hair into her face, and waves, “Bye, dad! I love you!”

He tenses; he wants to save that smile. And somehow, he fears that this would be the last time he would be able to see it.

*

He’s closing the shop for the noon time break when a couple of kids almost knock him down.

Another runs smack right into him and he almost dropped the clay water jug.

“Oh, sorry, mister!” utters a boy with unruly hair and gapped teeth.

He grabs the boy’s arm before he can run away, “What’s going on?”

“The Survey Corps are back!” the boy shouts as he scampers away.

His whole body turned to ice. His heart sinks into his stomach. Always he fears that their return would be the day that he sees her wrapped in her green cloak, bloodied or dismembered or dead. But he shakes these thoughts out of his head.

He has faith in his daughter. Didn’t she promise him that she’d always come back home?  
  


*

He’s sweating.

He’s nervous and scared and fidgety and he  _can’t_  see her. He spots her almost instantly every time but today is different. Something is absurdly  _off_  about today. He can feel it in his bones.

_This is it,_ says a voice at the back of his head.

_No,_  he tells it to shut up.

He sees a pile of dead bodies.

_Hers is in that pile,_ says the voice.

_No. She is alive._

He sees Captain Levi – head low, rigid posture, horse lead by its reins.

He runs up to him.

“C-captain Levi!” he stutters and swallows the lump in his throat.

“My daughter is in your squad, I’m Petra Ral’s father. I wanted to tell you something before she sees me.”

_Why isn’t he responding?_

“You know, she takes pride in being chosen for the Special Operations Squad and she told me that she’d devote herself to you.”

He laughs to relieve the tension, to try and take away the dreadful feeling in his gut.

“You know, as her father, I do want her to get married someday but I think that she is still too young. She’s very talented and I’m pretty sure she’s going to go places in her career - ”

He stops, having noticed the expression on Captain Levi’s face.

Captain Levi continues walking, his hand gripped tight around the reins.

And then he knew.

 


End file.
